Troubleshooting
A Dacor Burner That Clicks and Will Not Light
A Dacor gas burner that sparks and will not light has two ordinary causes in this climate and one that is worth ruling out first. Start with the cap and the head: after a deep clean they go back a fraction off their locating pins or still damp, and either will stop ignition while everything looks perfectly normal from above. A wet burner behaves badly for hours and then recovers on its own, which is why people so often report that it fixed itself. The second cause is the igniter — salt air and humidity crack the ceramic body, and a cracked igniter sparks to the wrong place while still looking and sounding right. The third question is how many burners are affected: trouble at one position stays with that burner, while trouble that moves around the hob points at the earth, the switch bank or the gas supply instead. On the professional rangetops there is a relight system as well, so repeated flame-outs may be that rather than the burner.
The full guide
Ask when the hob was last cleaned and you have solved most of these before leaving the telephone.
Dacor burner clicking not lighting: the week after the deep clean
Caps and heads come off, get washed, and go back. That is right and necessary and it is also where this problem is born: a cap a fraction off its locating pins changes where the spark lands, a head not quite home does the same, and a burner that is still damp will not light at all for several hours.
The damp version is the one that causes the most confusion, because it fixes itself overnight and comes back next time somebody cleans.
What salt air does to an igniter
The ceramic body of an igniter cracks, and a cracked body sparks to the nearest earth rather than across the gap where the gas is. It still clicks. It still looks perfect. And the burner never lights.
In a coastal kitchen this is an ordinary wearing part rather than a defect, and it is an inexpensive repair.
One burner or several
This is the question that splits the diagnosis. Trouble confined to one position is that burner — its cap, its head, its igniter, its lead.
Trouble that moves around the hob is not a burner at all: it points at the earth, the switch bank, or the gas supply feeding all of them, and on a professional rangetop drawing as much gas as these do that is worth measuring properly.
The relight system on the pro burners
The sealed brass burners on the rangetops are built to relight themselves after a draft, a boil-over or a lid dropped across the flame. So a burner that keeps going out and coming back is that system working, and a burner that goes out and stays out on a hob that has that system is a different problem from the same symptom on an ordinary cooktop.
What not to do
Keep clicking a burner that smells of gas. The spark is doing nothing useful and the gas is going somewhere. Turn it off, wait, and start again — or, if the smell persists with everything off, leave and call the supplier.
What we bring, and what we find
An igniter, its lead, and a set of caps and heads for the common burners — because the two likeliest findings are a cracked ceramic body and a burner that has simply gone back together wrong. Beyond that it is a spark module and a meter for the earth, which is what a hob-wide problem needs.
What we usually find is the second of those. On a rangetop that has been cooked on nightly for five years, stripping and reseating every burner restores more than any part would, and it is the reason a burner call frequently ends as a service rather than a repair.
If it turns out to be a repair
What this leads to, and what it costs
Every job on this site is priced the same way: an on-site diagnostic first, the figure agreed in writing before anybody starts.
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from $155 Gas burner and igniter repair
A burner that clicks without lighting, lights and goes out, or will not come down to a simmer. In Miami the usual culprits are salt air and humidity on the igniter, and a cap or head that went back slightly wrong after a clean — which is why so many of these calls date from the week the hob was scrubbed. The professional burners on the rangetops complicate it pleasantly: they are built to relight themselves after a draft or a boil-over, so a burner that keeps going out may be that system rather than the burner at all.
- Most of these problems begin the week the hob was deep-cleaned
- Salt air and humidity are what actually kill igniters here
- On the pro burners, repeated flame-outs may be the relight system
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from $195 Rangetop service
The professional rangetops are 36 and 48 inches of sealed brass burners, illuminated knobs and a griddle or wok ring in place of grates, and they are worked harder than any other appliance in these kitchens. Service is mostly about restoring the range of the burners rather than fixing failures: simmer settings that have drifted, ports partially blocked by years of boil-over, knob illumination that has died on one burner, and the griddle plate's surface. It is a heavy appliance and a satisfying one to bring back.
- Six sealed brass burners built to sear and to genuinely simmer
- Illuminated knobs fail one at a time and are a separate small repair
- The griddle and wok ring are accessories that live where grates would
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Sparking at the burner and no flame Burner clicks but will not light
In this climate the two ordinary causes are salt air on the igniter and a cap that went back slightly wrong after a clean — which is why so many of these calls date from the week the hob was scrubbed. The professional burners on the rangetops complicate it pleasantly: they are built to relight themselves after a draft or a boil-over, so a burner that keeps going out may be that system rather than the burner. Neither is a code problem; the rangetops have no display to show one on.
- Most of these begin the week the hob was deep-cleaned
- Salt air and humidity are what actually kill igniters here
- One burner or all of them is the question that splits the diagnosis
Questions people ask about this
I can smell gas. What should I do?
Stop trying to light it, turn the knob fully off, and open a window. If the smell persists with every knob off, leave the property and call the gas supplier before you call us. That is not a repair question.
Can I light it with a match meanwhile?
On most of these burners yes, carefully, once the gas has cleared. It is a reasonable short-term measure and it also confirms the burner itself is fine and the ignition is not — which is useful information to give us.
Why does it click on every burner when only one is lit?
That is normal on many gas hobs: the spark module fires all electrodes together. What is not normal is continuous clicking after the flame is established, which usually means a wet or contaminated electrode somewhere on the hob.
Troubleshooting
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Tell us the model number and what it is doing.
This article is based on:
- Official manufacturer documentation
- Internal repair procedures
- Technician repair history
- Company quality standards